Robert A. Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program<\/a> (Winn CIPP), where she and 65 other medical students from around the nation completed
\n externships at sites across the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\nWinn CIPP aims to expose medical students to clinical research and community outreach
\n and create a workforce with the skills and knowledge to improve participation in clinical
\n trials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dike applied to the program because of its focus on improving health outcomes and
\n because of her heart for service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Black woman in medicine and someone who\u2019s from an immigrant family, I know what
\n it\u2019s like not to always see yourself represented in health care and research,\u201d she
\n said. \u201cI knew I wanted to be a part of something to change that, and it was an opportunity
\n I couldn\u2019t pass up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her externship site was the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, which she
\n chose because of her personal experiences with cancer.<\/p>\n
“Clinical trials help us figure out what works for who and why. They are one of the
\n most powerful tools that we have to improve health outcomes, and when every population
\n is represented, we can ensure those outcomes are meaningful for all.”<\/p>\n
\u2014 Amara Dike, second-year OSU-COM student and member of the Winn CIPP fourth cohort<\/p>\n
Winn CIPP participants are paired with a mentor for the duration of their externship,
\n and Dike and another medical student worked under Dr. Alejandro Recio Boiles. Their
\n objective was to design a research project that addressed real-world barriers that
\n prevent patients from accessing clinical trials. Dike said addressing these barriers
\n is essential to advancing the future of medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cClinical trials help us figure out what works for who and why. They are one of the
\n most powerful tools that we have to improve health outcomes, and when every population
\n is represented, we can ensure those outcomes are meaningful for all,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project focused on mapping biomarker-driven clinical trials in Arizona for genetic
\n mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, among several others, which are found in different
\n types of cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dike said that when these genes mutate, they can cause severe disease progression.
\n For her and her team\u2019s project, they focused on these genes in prostate and bladder
\n cancer. They wanted to understand whether patients with these biomarkers had access
\n to clinical trials that targeted them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The research team collaborated with another company to identify the locations of patients
\n with specific biomarkers throughout the state. By mapping these locations against
\n clinical trials that had been active or enrolling participants in the last five years,
\n they discovered significant gaps in the preliminary data.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMany patients live far away from trial sites that are relevant to their mutation,\u201d
\n Dike said. \u201cSince these biomarker-driven clinical trials are very important and can
\n improve patient outcomes, our goal was to help inform future trial placement and expand
\n this project to other Southwestern states.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the six-week externship, Dike and her research partner worked on their project,
\n shadowed their physician mentor, and participated in a peer mentoring program for
\n those interested in medicine, which she said was a highlight for her. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt deeply grateful for the people who came before me that looked like
\n me and encouraged me. Being able to share my experience and affirm individuals that
\n they belong here was incredibly special,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The externship may have ended, but Dike\u2019s involvement is far from over. Some of the
\n research data is still pending and there is another associated project related to
\n genetic testing and disease progression in the works.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She credits Winn CIPP with helping her build confidence as a student and a future
\n physician.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt deepened my sense of purpose and taught me to think critically. It reminded me
\n that I matter and belong in these spaces, and that I have something valuable to contribute
\n to medicine,\u201d Dike said. \u201cI will always carry this experience with me.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thursday, September 11, 2025 Media Contact: Kayley Spielbusch | Digital Communications Specialist | 918-561-5759 | kspielb@okstate.edu For second-year…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":218994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[815,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-218993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115187433491205011","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}